Same template for landmark ODI

Indiarsquos 1000th ODI will see a new opener in Ishan Kishan when the lefthanded pocket dynamo comes out with Rohit Sharma at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera against the West Indies to kick off the threematch series today in a closeddoor contestldquoIshan is the only option he will openrdquo Indiarsquos new whiteball captain Rohit Sharma said during a virtual interaction on SaturdayIshan will openTwo openers in the squadmdashinform Shikhar Dhawan and Ruturaj Gaikwadmdashare in isolation with middleorder batter Shreyas Iyer after the three tested positive for Covid19Another opener Mayank Agarwal was also not available as he was in quarantine ldquoMayank was added to the squad but he is still in isolation because he came late He is not available as he is in quarantine so Ishan will openrdquo said RohitThis is the first series where Rohit has taken over the captaincy baton from Virat Kohli and he aims to take the legacy forwardldquoWhen Virat was captaining I was the vicecaptain I just have to take it from where it was leftrdquo he saidRohit stressed there wonrsquot be much tampering with the template that India have been following in recent times Therefore the six batsmen five bowlers formula may continue with two bowlers expected to lend depth to the batting and a batter chipping in with a few oversldquoWe want to continue the same template Therersquos nothing that I need to come and change drastically I just have to take it forwardrdquo Rohit saidThe return of lsquoKulcharsquomdashKuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahalmdashwill have to wait although India may play two frontline spinners ldquoWe want to give them an opportunity together but it can only happen over a course of time Kuldeep needs to play a lot of games to get his rhythm backrdquo Rohit reckoned Experienced Chahal who was part of the team in South Africa is likely to be preferred over Ravi Bishnoi in the spin attack with Washington Sundar who is also a useful batter and a gun fielderPrasidh over AveshPrasidh Krishna may get the nod ahead of Avesh Khan to share the new ball with Mohammed Siraj while Deepak Chahar will be the third seamer whose maiden ODI fifty in South Africa nearly won the game for IndiaDeepak Hooda could provide the sixth bowling option while shoring up the middleorder in the absence of Shreyas IyerRohitrsquos Mumbai Indians teammate Kieron Pollard will lead the already cockahoop Caribbeans after their T20 series win against England at home but the longer version of the game at the biggest cricket stadium in the world will be a different ball game especially in the prevailing weather conditionsThe difference in day and night temperature here is nearly nine degrees Celsius and that would make chasing under lights difficult